Stockwell War Memorial

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M names

Thomas Percy Messenger

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T. P. Messenger
Service no. 202245
Lance Corporal, London Regiment, 1st/1st Battalion
Died on 28 May 1918 aged 22
Remembered at Soissons Memorial, France

Information from the censuses

Thomas Percy Messenger, a 15-year-old grocer’s errand boy, lived at 46 Horace Street, Stockwell, where his family occupied four rooms. His father, John Messenger, 56, a wood and coal merchant from Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, and mother Elizabeth Messenger, 52, from Blackheath, south-east London, had 13 children, all of whom survived. Five were listed on the census:
Thomas Messenger, 15
Jane Messenger, 13
Cecil Messenger, 11
[Indecipherable] Messenger, 9 -see  below
Walter Messenger, 3
All were born in South Lambeth.
In 1901 the family lived at 4 Assaye Street, Lambeth.

Messenger, Thomas Percy
Thomas Percy Messenger’s death certificate

Information from Lin Marshall (née Messenger) – via email 6 December 2010

Regarding your entry for THOMAS PERCY MESSENGER, who was my great uncle, the name which you have listed as indecipherable is VICTOR.

I am a genealogist researching both my father’s and mother’s families.  I don’t know if the following is of interest to you, but I must tell you that I was overjoyed to see Tom included in your book.  I have informed all the Messenger relatives with whom I am in touch, and they are equally overjoyed. Though my great grandfather John has recorded on the 1911 Census record which you have quoted, that his wife Elizabeth (known as Lizzie) was born in Blackheath, actually she wasn’t!  She was born in Greenwich at 1 Luton Place, but was baptised in Collingbourne Kingston, Wiltshire, where her family lived and she grew up.  John Messenger was born in Inglesham, Wiltshire, not Ashton Keynes as he stated on the 1911 Census.  My great grandfather actually did not know where he was born, and usually said Cricklade! His family moved to Marlborough from where John walked through the Savernake Forest to court his Lizzie (nee Goddard)!

This is the entry I have in my family history for Thomas Messenger:

Thomas (Tom) Percy Messenger. Tom was born in Lambeth in 1895 (Civil Register: September quarter 1895, Lambeth, vol 1d, page 461).  He was baptised on 5th September 1895 at St Anne’s, South Lambeth.  On the 1911 Census, he was recorded by his father as living at home aged 15, an errand boy for a grocer.  He became a chef, then joined the First Battalion of the London Regiment during World War 1 and went to France.   He was awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal and, at the time of his death, had attained the rank of Lance Corporal.  He went missing, presumed dead, on 28.05.1918 when only 22 years old. His name is recorded on the Stockwell Memorial.

messengerbirth
The baptismal record for Thomas Percy Messenger on 5 September 1895 at St Anne’s, South Lambeth.

Lin Marshall nee Messenger) discovered that Tom’s name was not included on the War Graves Commission’s Roll of Honour on the Internet and wrote asking to have it included, furnishing the necessary documentation as proof.  After some months, she was notified that all the records had been checked and he was now included, and also that his name was to be added to the memorial at Soissons in France, the memorial closest to where he had fallen.”

Frederick Henry Merredew

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F. H. Merredew
Service no. 377
Serjeant, London Regiment, “C” Coy. 1st/24th Battalion
Born in Lambeth; enlisted at Kennington; lived at Brixton
Killed in action at age 25 on 26 May 1915
CWGC: “Son of Arthur James and Sarah Mary Merredew, of 1 Sternhold Avenue, Streatham Hill, London.”
Remembered at Le Touret Memorial, France

Information from the 1911 census

Frederick Henry Merredew, 21, was a piano player maker. In 1911 he was living with his family at 36 Glenferrie Road, St Albans, where they occupied 6 rooms. Arthur James Merredew, 47, born in Clerkenwell, was also involved in the player piano trade, working as a wood machinist. His wife, Sarah Mary Merredew, 46, was from Kensington, west London. They had had 11 children, nine surviving, with eight appearing on this census return:
Frederick Henry Merredew, 21, born in South Lambeth;
Florence Emma Merredew, 19, a “raincoat baster” in a clothing factory, born in South Lambeth
Catherine Helena Merredew, 16, born in North Lambeth
Elsie Ada Merredew, 12, born in Brixton
Walter Merredew, 11, born in Brixton
Cecil Edward Merredew, 9, born in Brixton
William Norris Merredew, 6, born in Brixton
Minnie Mary Merredew, 5, born in Brixton
I believe “piano player” to mean “player piano” – these were self-playing pianos, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via, usually, pre-programmed music perforated paper.

Thomas Joseph Meredith

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T. J. Meredith
Service no. 69867
Gunner, Royal Field Artillery, “B” Bty. 99th Bde.
Died on 9 September 1918 at age 23
CWGC: “Son of Thomas George and Annie Eliza Meredith, of 40 Wilcox Road, South Lambeth, London.”
Remembered at Salonika (Lembet Road) Military Cemetery, Greece

Information from the censuses

The 15-year-old Thomas Meredith, an apprentice bookbinder, born in Lambeth, lived at 21 Neptune Street, Lambeth with his parents and siblings. The family occupied 4 rooms. Thomas’s father, also called Thomas Meredith and born in Lambeth, was 37 and worked as a printer’s labourer. Annie Meredith, 35, was born in Westminster. The couple had had 8 children, 7 of them surviving and 6 appearing on the 1911 census:
Thomas Meredith, 15
Esther Meredith, 12
Annie Meredith, 10
Florrie Meredith, 8
Violet Meredith, 6
Ada Meredith, 4
George Meredith, 1 month
The five-year-old Thomas Meredith and his family were registered on the 1901 census at 39 Neptune Street, Lambeth.

William Samuel Meech

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W. S. Meech
Service no. S/8961, Private, Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), 9th Bn.
Killed in action on 6 February 1916.
Remembered at Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.

William Samuel Meech was born in Lewisham, south-east London. He volunteered in May 1915 and was killed in action at the Battle of Loos. He lived at 17 Pulross Road, Stockwell.

Harry George Mead

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H. G. Mead
Service no. 37888
Private, Royal Fusiliers, 37th Battalion, transferred to 63909, Labour Corps
Died on 4 November 1920 at about age 42
CWGC: “Husband of Ada Mead, of 40, Wilcox Rd., South Lambeth, London.”
Remembered at Lambeth Cemetery, Tooting, London SW17

British Army WWI Pension Records 1914-1920

In 1919, when the pension board assessed Harry George Mead, they found him 100 per cent disabled. His symptoms included shortness of breath, expectoration, anaemia and haemoptysis (coughing up blood). His general condition was poor. Mead had contracted pulmonary tuberculosis, and this was attributed to his war service. He had been posted for duty in July 1916 and had served 2 years and 217 days in France.

It was clear that Mead would be unable to return to work (he had been a painter). There was a note in the file to investigate the status of their adopted son, Robert, then 12. The pension board awarded him 27s 6d a week for six months, and 40s for 64 weeks thereafter, with 10s for his wife, Ada.

Information from the 1911 census

Harry George Mead, 33, and born in Lambeth, was a house painter. In 1911 he was married and living with his wife, Ada Mead, 34, who was from Brislington, Bristol, in 2 rooms at 12 Paradise Road, Stockwell. They had been married for 5 years and had no children.

Claude James Edwin Meacock

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C. J. E. Meacock
Service no. 200253
Corporal, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 1st Battalion
Killed in action on 26 August 1918 at the age of about 20
Born in Lambeth; enlisted at Handel Street; lived in Wandsworth
Remembered at Summit Trench Cemetery, Croisilles, France

Information from the 1901 census

In 1911 Claude Meacock lived at 11a Goldsboro Road, near Wandsworth Road, with his parents and 5 siblings. His father, James Meacock, 39, was a chargeman of cleaners for the London & South West Railway. He was born in Bayswater, west London. His mother, Anna Mary Meacock, 41, was from Croydon. The children were:
Claude Meacock, 12, born in Clapham
Muriel Meacock, 10, born in Clapham
Stewart Meacock, 8, born in Clapham
Irene Meacock, 6, born in Clapham
Beatrice Meacock, 4, born in South London
Edna Meacock, 2, born in South London
There was also a boarder: Benjamin Pay, an 18-year-old single man (no occupation given) from Elstead.In 1901 Claude, then aged 3, was living with his mother, younger sister Muriel, cousin Lucy Bashford, 11, at 27 Ashburnham Grove, Greenwich. His father James is not listed.